Tracy Conner, who has dedicated nearly his entire 35-year professional life to the Myrtle Beach golf industry, has been named the interim president and CEO of both the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce (MBACC), and Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).
Conner, 59, takes over on an interim basis from Karen Riordan, who resigned after six years in the positions last week.
Conner has spent the past several years in a pair of leadership roles within the Grand Strand golf community – executive director of the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association and president of technology with Golf Tourism Solutions, the technology and marketing agency that promotes the Myrtle Beach market.
Conner said he will remain the executive director of the MBAGCOA, though he will be less involved in day-to-day operations. He has resigned from GTS and has been replaced as president of technology by GTS director of client services and new business development Jeff Monday.
“I’m very excited and very honored to be asked,” Conner said. “Really what I want to accomplish is to continue moving the chamber forward in a very positive direction. They’re doing some fabulous things for our community and I just want to continue that same success until we find the next CEO.”
Conner was a four-year member of the chamber board of directors through 2022, and served as chair of its advocacy council.
The chamber’s board will soon establish a committee and select a firm to conduct a nationwide search for the next leader, according to a chamber news release.
“Tracy’s extensive experience and commitment to the community, including his dedication to promoting the region as a premier golf destination, make him an ideal choice for this role. His leadership will undoubtedly steer the Chamber and CVB toward continued success and growth while we search for new leadership,” said board chair John Rutenberg in the release.
Conner’s past positions give him extensive experience and connections with the Grand Strand business community as well as the national tourism and hospitality industries.
“I think [my experience] will serve me well in that I understand associations and member-driven organizations, and the chamber is just that,” Conner said. “Working with the chamber and being on the board is also very, very helpful.”
Conner’s wife, Debbie, is also heavily involved in the community and municipal affairs as a member of the Myrtle Beach City Council.
Through his leadership positions in the area golf market, he played a critical role in bringing the PGA Tour to Myrtle Beach for the first time with May’s inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
Growing through golf
Conner moved to the Strand in 1989 after graduating with a business management degree from UNC Wilmington, where he played on the golf team.
The business degree was Conner’s planned avenue into the golf industry.
His career began as a pro shop employee at Buck Creek Golf Club (now Aberdeen Country Club) in Longs. “The lowest person on the rung, whatever that is,” Conner said of his first job.
He then spent 18 months managing a small private club in Georgia before returning to the area to become Buck Creek head pro in 1993. He was at the 54-hole Bay Tree Golf Club from 1995 until the property closed in favor of redevelopment in 2006 – as head pro for five years and general manager for six.
He became the head of the Grand Strand Tee Time Network shortly after Bay Tree’s closing, and oversaw the development and evolution of the T-Links tee time network into a web-based platform.
He added the duties of executive director of the MBAGCOA in 2014 with the retirement of 26-year head George Hilliard.
He became the GTS president of technology when the agency was formed in January 2018 with the merging of the Grand Strand Tee Time Network with its sister nonprofit Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday marketing cooperative.
Conner said he is unsure what he will do professionally after the chamber finds its next full-time leader.
“Somebody might let me do something in the golf business again,” Conner quipped. “I don’t have a plan. My plan is right in front of me – concentrate on what’s in front of me and all of that will naturally happen.”
